In the dead silence, Qi Si suddenly scoffed. "What are you thinking? With your current strength, who do you think you could take on?"
"Even if you really used some method to control some unlucky bastard, do you think Yang Yundong would let you get away with it? From what I've seen, he's got a strong sense of justice. He won't tolerate a rotten apple in the bunch."
"Besides, you can't be sure A-Xi wants to eat human flesh. What if you took the risk only to find your initial assumption was wrong? Wouldn't that be ridiculous?"
Qi Si's words sent Zhao Feng's thoughts swinging wildly, from confidence to discouragement and back again. He'd completely lost his nerve.
Irritably, he raked a hand through his unruly hair and asked, "Then what do you think I should do?"
"Aren't you human too?" Qi Si asked with a smile.
He left the hint at that, but its meaning was clear. Whether Zhao Feng took it or not was up to him.
And Zhao Feng knew full well that he had no choice.
If he went after someone else and got caught, he'd become a target for everyone. Waiting for Yang Yundong to find a solution was even less practical. The help would come too late...
In the real world, he was a Taoist master who knew plenty of ways to deal with the supernatural. He'd cleared his first instance through sheer force.
When he realized his methods could let him steamroll even an instance with a Western setting, he naturally chose to stick with what worked. The moment he saw A-Xi, he'd struck first.
Who could have guessed the Eerie Game would play dirty and come up with a rule stating that "ghosts cannot be killed by forces from outside the village"...
In the dawn light, Qi Si wore a faint smile and waited at his leisure for Zhao Feng to make up his mind.
And sadly, Zhao Feng did exactly what Qi Si had expected.
Gritting his teeth, he gripped the blade in his right hand and cut into his left arm. Blood sprayed as he hacked off a piece of flesh, which fell to the ground along with the sweat dripping from his forehead.
Grimacing, he tore off a corner of his clothes and bandaged the wound on his left arm. Then he carefully picked up the flesh from the ground and tucked it into his pocket.
Only after that did he reluctantly tear off another small strip of cloth and slowly begin wiping the blood from the blade.
He'd finally gotten his hands on a weapon-type item. It was only a blade without any special effects, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to keep it.
Who knew what he'd run into in future instances? Without something sharp at his side, everything would be difficult.
Qi Si watched Zhao Feng's movements. His half-hearted efforts were so obvious that his intentions were easy to guess.
He glanced at the other man's rough fingers and smiled as if nothing were amiss. "You can keep the blade for now. Just give it back when the instance is nearly over."
There was no way anything could be that easy. Zhao Feng froze, then eyed him suspiciously. "You're not worried I'll keep it and refuse to give it back?"
Qi Si pretended to count on his fingers. "First of all, I'm a bit of a germaphobe, actually. To be honest, after you've touched it, I don't really want it anymore."
"You son of a—" Zhao Feng swore, but forced the rest of the words back down his throat.
Qi Si continued unhurriedly, "Second, I'm a full member of the Sariel Guild. I trust you're not stupid enough to make an enemy of me over a blade with no special effects."
As a player entering his second instance, Zhao Feng knew exactly what the Sariel Guild meant.
It was one of the top three guilds, active ever since the Eerie Game descended. It brought together thousands of veteran players, all with impressive stocks of items.
And quite a few of them were the sort of lunatics who killed on sight—vindictive and fiercely protective of their own.
So "Chang Xu" was with the Sariel Guild? No wonder he'd been able to make that amoral argument so calmly. It was clearly an extension of the Sariel Guild's principles. And no wonder he'd acted like he was separate from the crowd when he first entered the instance. In his eyes, the other players were probably already dead...
Zhao Feng instinctively began to reconsider everything that had happened since they entered the instance. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more wary he became of Qi Si.
To be accepted by a guild after clearing only his first instance, he either had impressive abilities or an exceptionally powerful background... Not someone to mess with!
"Lastly, I want this gesture to show you that I mean well and want to work with you."
Qi Si raised a hand and touched the necklace cord at the back of his neck. The [Rose Heart] against his chest radiated a warm, but not scorching, heat, signaling that its effect was taking hold.
"Zhao Feng, you're ruthless and decisive. To be honest, I'm very interested in you, and I'm sure our guild leader would be, too. If we work well together, I'll put in a good word for you."
At this, Zhao Feng's breathing quickened, and he could barely suppress the joy in his eyes.
He wasn't a particularly moral person. Though he'd once criticized the Sariel Guild on the forum for farming experience, deep down, hadn't he always yearned to join them?
A behemoth of that caliber was extending an invitation to him—something he'd never even dared dream of.
If he could join Sariel, he'd never have to face an instance without support again. He could even act as he pleased under the guild's banner...
It all felt like a dream. Zhao Feng still couldn't quite believe it, and couldn't help murmuring, "You... you really are with Sariel?"
Qi Si said nothing. With an impassive expression, he reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a black ring engraved with a butterfly, and tossed it in front of Zhao Feng.
He'd taken the ring from Liu Ajiu and kept it with him just in case. He hadn't put it on because he didn't want to somehow get matched into an instance with another Sariel member.
Now, the little trinket had come in handy.
After seeing the ring, Zhao Feng no longer had any doubts about Qi Si.
Only Sariel had the complete technology needed to make items that could be brought into instances.
The Black Ring was undoubtedly one of Sariel's creations. And the chances that a newcomer could get their hands on a Sariel item through any other means were next to none.
It wasn't as if he'd killed a Sariel member and taken it as spoils, right?
At this point, Zhao Feng actually began to doubt himself. "Brother Chang, why choose to work with me? I'm really only braver than most and have seen more ghosts. I don't have much experience with instances..."
Then he saw the young man before him—the one claiming to be a Sariel member—look disappointed and shake his head with a sigh. "I thought someone as smart as you would've figured it out."
"Last night, Lu Keliang's indirect cause of death was failing to get the God Meat in a struggle. The zero-sum nature of this instance was already becoming clear. You, Yang Yundong, and Allen have all triggered events where you had to find meat for NPCs. I believe there'll be more and more situations like this, and we'll have to provide more and more meat."
"But there's only so much flesh you can cut from one person, and it's obvious that cutting it away weakens you in a fight. Sooner or later, new conflicts are bound to arise, and an unlucky bastard will be chosen as the sacrifice to satisfy the NPCs."
"After all, sacrificing an individual's interests for the survival of the group is an accepted rule of human society. The collective coerces the individual, invoking the future of the group to justify its present-day atrocities. That's what people call 'justice' and 'morality.'"
Zhao Feng instinctively followed Qi Si's line of reasoning. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
One reason he'd been so timid and afraid to openly choose actions that went against common values was that he feared being morally coerced and pushed forward by the other players as a sacrifice.
Qi Si watched Zhao Feng's expression shift from confusion to resolve, then smiled calmly. "I can tell you're the same kind of person I am. You're not some fool who lets himself be manipulated and deceived by the empty promises of honor and praise, willingly sacrificing himself for the majority."
"In the first three instances of the newbie period, everyone's strength is about the same. As long as we deal with the strongest players and then secure an overwhelming advantage in numbers, we can decide anyone's fate and establish a new set of 'sacrifice rules.'"
"Yang Yundong and Allen have already formed a solid alliance, and I'm sure they won't agree with my ideas. That leaves only you to work with me."
The evil lurking among mankind wore human skin, the amusement in his eyes cold and mocking. "Of course, for now, I'm also the only one willing to help you get past A-Xi."
Before you continue